All Things Truly Wicked
by He Who is Me
Summary: After Odin discovers him during his attempted coup of Asgard. Loki is forced to flee to Earth. After he arrives he meets a child who helps him learn to love again...That's corny as all hell isn't it.
1. Chapter 1

I Live! After a long hiatus due to forces outside my control I return to the realm of fanfic, did you miss me? Please say you missed me. At any rate this story is full of fluff, you have been warned. As always a big thank you to my beta reader, the lovely Josie Raine.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I do own the story and OCs though and anyone I catch copying them will be attacked by ravenous ghost-wolves. For realsies. :)

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How had Odin discovered him? He had been sure to mask himself as he returned to Asgard. Thor couldn't have told him, the great oaf had clearly believed that he had fallen. Even if he hadn't, there was no possibility he could have warned Odin in time, he was too busy finishing off Malakith. There was no way the Allfather could have known he was there. But he had known, and Loki was forced to make a strategic retreat. At least that's what he would say afterwards. What actually happened was he ran like a coward while Odin's guards chased him through the palace. He managed to make it to one of his passages between worlds. Which deposited him face first into a pile of garbage. As he swore vengeance upon Asgard, he began to take stock of his surroundings.

"Midgard, naturally" Loki muttered, "If Odin doesn't find me, The Avengers definitely will."

As he walked out of the alley he took in his surroundings, and seeing Stark Tower in the distance immediately headed in the opposite direction.

"And right in their backyard too, Might as well just turn myself in right now"

He absently changed his outfit to something more appropriate for wandering the streets of Midgard. No need to make it too easy for the damned heroes to find him. As he resolutely walked away he failed to realize that he was walking right into a bad part of town. Suddenly the sound of jets filled the air. Loki swore violently and ducked into an alleyway just as Iron Man flew past.

"Unbelievable, is fate itself conspiring against me tonight? Is one good turn of fortune too much to ask?"

His rhetorical question was answered by the sound of a screaming child.

"Really, that's your answer?"

Loki began to turn away, trying to ignore the tugging in his gut as the child screamed

"HELP!"

"I must be completely mad." Loki sighed before running deeper into the alley.

The girl was tiny, a skinny slip of a creature. Made even smaller by how she curled up into a fetal position to protect herself from the fat man kicking her.

"Stop, please" she sobbed quietly

"Please, keep going. It's so much more fun that way" he whispered as he leaned closer, laughing as she flinched away.

"ENOUGH!" Loki shouted as his magic slammed the man into the alley wall. "I've done some awful things in my time, but never have I stooped so low as to directly harm an innocent child. You disgust me."

The fat man groans, vainly trying to free himself from the magic that pinned him to the wall

"Fuck off pretty boy, I can do whatever I damn well please with street trash like her." He snarled

"Oh, so you are not merely disgusting. But rude as well. You're like a pig, fat, ugly and stupid. In fact, a pig would be far more tolerable, at least they roll in mud to cover their stink. Yes, a pig will do quite nicely"

As Loki spoke, green smoke gathered around the man, obscuring him from view. When the mist receded, a fat pink pig stood in place of the man. It shrieked in terror and ran out of the alley, startling several pedestrians in it's mad escape.

With that dealt with he went to check on the girl. She had watched wide-eyed as he dispatched the fat man. But as he approached she whimpered and shied away.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I promise" He said quietly "I want to help." She stared up at him with big brown eyes full of tears. She was so small, so helpless. Had he ever been that small?

"You mean it?" she asked, seeming to somehow shrink smaller. Like she was afraid of the answer.

Loki was surprised to find that he did.

"Yes, I do."

He moved closer kneeling to take a look at her injuries. While he did not have any healing magic, he did have a functional knowledge of battlefield medicine. A result of his time galavanting about with Thor, Sif and the Warriors Three. Somehow he had ended up becoming their group's medic, largely due to the fact that no one else would do it. So Loki had resolved to become the best possible. He had spent months studying with the healers learning all he could without the propensity for healing magic. But had they appreciated it, no. Of course not, they took him for granted. Thor's little brother along for the ride, never a true warrior, never good enough. But those skills served him well now. He identified that while there would be bruising along her right side, but nothing was broken.

"What's your name?" he asked gently

She thought for a minute, like she hadn't had to think about that in a while.

"Amber, my name is Amber" She finally said, uncurling a little

"Well Amber, I think you are going to be fine. You can go home now."

This was the wrong thing to say, as she folded right back up

"No, you said you'd help me" she whimpered, giving him the big brown eyes again

"Don't you want to go home?" he asked

"Don't have one." She muttered giving him the nastiest glare he had ever received from someone under five feet tall.

"Oh" he decided to drop that subject, "Is there somewhere you'd like to go?"

She thought for a bit before surprising him with her answer

"I don't have anywhere." She said so quietly he had to strain to hear, "Can I come with you?"

He doesn't know how to answer that.

"I don't really have anywhere either." He says "You'd be better off somewhere else"

He begins to walk away, but feels a tug at his sleeve.

He turns around to see her sad brown eyes staring up at him

"Maybe we can find somewhere together?" she says.

He doesn't understand. He is Loki, He is a monster, he tore this city to shreds at the head of an alien army. She should be running away as fast as her little legs can carry her. But she doesn't she just stares. Deep brown eyes meeting his own sharp green. Her hair is the same shade of blonde as Thor's underneath all the grime. He knows in his mind that she's better off away from him. He opens his mouth to tell her that. But he can't. Instead he says.

"Maybe so."

He definitely was going mad.

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As always please review, constructive criticism is welcome. Flamers will be eaten by my ghost-wolves. Also, for anyone who cares. The title is derived from an Ernest Hemingway Quote "All things truly wicked start in Innocence." I feel like it fits Loki pretty well, He just wants to be loved underneath it all. At least that's how I see it.


	2. Chapter 2

I have returned to plague your world with my slightly-better-than-average fanfiction. Fear me. As always huge thanks to the immensely wonderful Josie Raine who ensures that only my good ideas come before you.

Disclaimer: I don't own the MCU, though it would be very cool if I did. I could finally make Coulson return to the big screen. It's long past time.

Anywho, enjoy :)

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Willy's Diner was a little hole in the wall of a restaurant. The sort of place that the tourists wandered straight past. But the food was good and the help was always friendly, so the old place had its fair share of regulars. Willy himself often manned the bar and took great pride in knowing the name and order of every single one. Of course this late at night nobody came into his little restaurant anyhow. Naturally the second he thought that, one of the oddest sets of customers he had ever seen came in. Leading the way was a tall thin man with an aristocratic air about him, wearing a very expensive suit. Following in his shadow was a tiny girl wearing a dress that, in a previous life, might have been yellow.

"Hi there, what brings you fine folks here tonight." Willy called out, just because they looked a bit strange was no reason not to be polite.

The tall man spoke with an almost Shakespearean accent "It was the only eatery that didn't stink of ale and piss."

"Fair enough, most of those dives don't even have proper food. You made a good choice. You want a menu?"

"Thank you" he gave the menu a glance. "I've not had most of these, would you recommend something?"

"Not from around here huh, how 'bout I get you started with a cuppa coffee and we can go from there. What about you kid, you want anything?" At this the girl squeaked and ran back behind her companion, clasping her arms around his leg

"Hey, I don't bite. Come on out." Willy smiled at the shy girl. She shook her head. Willy noticed out of the corner of his eye the man looked rather uncomfortable, like he wasn't quite sure what to do.

"Amber, please let go." he said stiffly

"Amber, that's a pretty name." Willy said "Tell you what Amber, if you come on out I'll make you a big stack of my famous chocolate chip pancakes."

She peeked out from behind her companion and nodded before ducking behind him again.

"Great, I'll get those started for you, have a seat."

As Willy bustled into the kitchen behind him Loki found himself having some time to think. If he was to stay on Midgard for any extended period of time. A fate which seemed more likely with every passing hour, he would have to make plans. His magic could solve any problems with money, and even without it he could still use the false identities he had set up during the invasion, that was the easy part. No, the hard part was sitting next him, scribbling on a piece of paper. What was he supposed to do?

"You keep thinkin' so hard your brain's gonna melt." Willy said, placing a steaming mug in front of him.

"What?" Loki was startled from his musings

"Something my Ma used to say when I was a kid, thought it was appropriate. Take a drink, problems don't seem so bad when you have a hot cuppa."

"How do you know I have problems." Loki muttered before taking a sip "This is good."

"Course you have problems. You put up a tough front. But when you think no one's looking, you slump like you've been punched in the gut. Plus your girl looks like she hasn't had a proper meal in a month. Speaking of." He swept into the kitchen and brought out a massive plate stacked high with pancakes glistening with syrup. The entire thing was bigger than Amber's head.

"Now don't eat that too fast or you'll make yourself sick." Willy gave her a smile, which she tentatively returned before diving into her feast.

"Now I know it ain't none of my business. But if you wanna talk, I'm a pretty good listener." He said as he turned back to Loki

"Where to begin" Loki muttered "What would you do if you woke up one day and found out that everything you thought you knew was wrong. If everything you tried to do to make it right, only made the problem worse. Until you finally stopped trying and just let yourself be the monster you think you must be. Then you wake from your dream and realize that all you want is for things to be the way they were before. But it's just too late." He smiled sadly.

"Wow, that's quite a story. One thing I've learned in all my life, is that you can't change the past. All you can do is try to make the future better." Willy shrugged "Just keep going, one day at a time, until you find where you want to be."

"But what if I don't know where that is?"

"There's no hurry, the best things in life only come when you've worked for them"

"Hmm, you may be right." He took a sip of his drink, contemplating the old chef's words. He was pulled once more from his thoughts by a small tug on his sleeve.

"Look what I drew!" Amber said excitedly, holding up a crude sketch of a pink blob, a green stick figure and a small yellow shape. He was about to dismiss it and go back to his drink, until he realized what she had tried to depict. The pink blob was in fact the man he had turned into a pig. The stick figure, himself, standing protectively over the small shape, who could only be Amber. He found himself smiling for the first time in a very long time.

"It's beautiful." He said, and when she smiled back the entire room lit up. She pushed the picture into his hands and scampered back to her seat.

"She's a good kid" Willy said once she had gone back to her food "She obviously adores you"

"Allfather only knows why." Loki said as he slipped the picture into his pocket. "I don't deserve it."

"Then you best start earning it quick. You only get one chance with kids."

"How would you know?" Loki asked

"You ain't the only one who's made mistakes in your life."

"Fair enough" Loki noticed that Amber had fallen asleep "I think we had best find a place to stay for the night. How much do I owe you for the food?"

"Tell you what bud, you agree to come back sometime and this one's on me." He held out his hand

"Deal"

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Alright that's that. I'd say I'll try to be more on top of writing, but I try not to make promises I can't keep. My schedule is a sentient being that hates me. In other news. The incredibly lovely Josie Raine has elected to create her own story, which can be found under the penname JosieRaine88 on this very site. Go read it, it's very good.


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